MUMBAI: Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer continued his poor long-format form, scoring just three runs before being dismissed during the semifinals of Ranji Trophy for Mumbai against Tamil Nadu on Sunday.
Iyer was recently dropped from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Central Contract List for 2023-24 following his recent non-participation in domestic red-ball cricket, could manage just three runs in eight balls before he was clean-bowled by pacer Sandeep Warrier.
The attacking right-handed batter has had a tough few months. From October-November, Iyer had a monumental ICC Cricket World Cup in India, scoring 530 runs in 11 matches at an average of 66.25 and a strike rate of over 113, with two centuries and three fifties. As the seventh-highest run-scorer in the tournament, Iyer was the backbone of the Indian batting line-up which played a crucial role in the team’s 10-match unbeaten streak to the finals, where they lost to Australia.
He broke numerous records in the tournament, becoming the first-ever middle-order batter to score 500-plus runs in a single World Cup edition and also slammed the fastest century in World Cup knockouts, in just 70 balls against New Zealand in the semifinals.
After some white-ball cricket against South Africa and Australia following the tournament, Iyer’s focus shifted to Tests, but his returns diminished drastically. after a fine start to his Test career. In his last seven Tests and 12 innings, he has scored just 187 runs at an average of 17.00, with the best score of 35. He delivered underwhelming performances during the tour to South Africa and in the home series against England.
Iyer was then omitted from India’s squad for the next three Tests against England but did not feature in any red-ball cricket, consequently losing his central contract, especially with BCCI being strict against players missing out on domestic cricket and favouring the Indian Premier League (IPL). Notably, he had earlier featured in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy game against Andhra Pradesh ahead of the England series, scoring 48 runs.
Coming to the match, Tamil Nadu won the toss and opted to bat first, but was bundled out for 146 runs, with Vijay Shankar (44) and Washington Sundar (43) scoring the bulk of runs after Tushar Deshpande (3/24), Tanush Kotian (2/10) and Shardul Thakur (2/48) ran through the team’s batting.
Mumbai is currently struggling against Tamil Nadu’s sharp bowling. (ANI)